Replacing Replacement
Acts 2:1-12 (The Message)
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
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You have to hand it to the disciples, always keeping us on our toes. Just last week in our reading, we find them heading back to Jerusalem to begin their task of spreading the good news, and today, we find them tucked away once again. However, this time, they aren't alone. They're actually with a group of one hundred and twenty other disciples. Yet this group speaks the same language, and they share a similar culture. But did Jesus ask them to spread the good news to only their small cultural and ethnic bubble? The entrance of the Holy Spirit, blowing like a gust of wind, changed the landscape of the disciple's ministry that would continue to impact our work today.
That's the thing about Pentecost. It's a celebration of the gift of God being distributed to all people, ALL PEOPLE, regardless of their age, gender, culture, nationality, social status, or birthplace. So as much as the disciples might have tried to keep the good news to themselves, it wasn't meant for only them. We need this reminder, in a time where fear of outsiders drives radical theories of "replacement" or inspires acts of domestic terrorism, our call is to be people of God above all else. People of God who possess the gift of the Holy Spirit that transcends any identity we think is worth more than being called children of God. We should understand that by now, the Holy Spirit will never allow us to erect such barriers made of fear around our hearts, our churches, or our communities.
We don’t always remember that the Holy Spirit changed that fundamental element of what it means to live in a community. The Holy Spirit pushes us to go beyond what we have come to know and find comforting and reassuring and to instead move into a place of new experiences. We see this recurring throughout Scripture. God reached out to Moses from the burning bush calling Moses to leave behind the life he had made for himself. God asked Jonah to go and proclaim the good news to the people of Nineveh, whom Jonah had despised. God asked Mary to take on the task of conceiving a son that would be named Emmanuel, God with us. God asked the disciples if they would drop what they were doing and come follow him. How do we allow the Holy Spirit to reign in our hearts? How do we let the Spirit of God move outside and expand our circle of welcome?
During a previous call, I had the privilege of attending a changing of command ceremony at Ft. Drum in Northern New York. Driving through the gates and showing off my military base ID (which I may or may not have as a souvenir), I would see the 10th Mountain Division's motto in bold, "Climb to Glory." "Climb to Glory," I think it's a fitting motto for us today as we gather this Pentecost Sunday in the midst of suffering in multiple places in our world. "Climb to Glory!" Let the Holy Spirit power your climb up past your fears, past your inabilities to accept others, past your biases and preconceived notions, and past your baggage that you refuse to let go of each time you are asked. Open your hearts and use your gifts to "Climb to Glory" so that we might end up in a place where all feel the glory and welcome that the Holy Spirit provides.
God didn’t call the disciples to go to places they thought were comfortable. God didn’t call the disciples to be arrogant or angry, or inhospitable. God didn’t call the disciples to only care for those who fit in their circle. No. God called them to go to places where God’s own heart hurts the most. God called them to go and to be with the widows and the orphans, to go and welcome the stranger who came from a foreign land as a child of God, and to go and to be in the places where there is so much hurt and pain that those who live there are either forgotten about or pushed far off into the extreme margins of our society. So how will you let the Holy Spirit take hold of your life today? How will you let the Holy Spirit take your gifts and talents, and skills to build something that will outlast because we followed the Spirit of God?
Following the Holy Spirit does not mean everything will go our way. There will be a lot of failures. Just look at Scripture! The New Testament recounts the numerous shortcomings of the disciples as they went out on their missionary journeys throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. We won't get everything right in our following of the Holy Spirit. Ministry is messy, life is messy, and this thing we call the church is messy, but the beautiful part is that God loves every last bit of what we have to offer. God does not delight in the church's purity (it's theological, cultural, or national purity). Instead, God delights in our willingness to take a risk following the Holy Spirit in welcoming in new experiences, new people, and a new willingness to change the way we do things. In our striving to be active and faithful followers of Christ, the fears of what the future and those we welcome will be are soothed by the knowledge that there is a community, a family of individuals, who are wrestling with the struggles of life as well.